Lewes District Council: Proposal to Changes with Bin Collections

Recycling collections would stay fortnightly and food waste collections would stay weekly. This system is called 'Alternate Weekly Collections' and would apply to most properties in the district.

Feedback Survey

Lewes District Council is inviting feedback on the proposals via a survey,

If you would like to complete the survey, please click here 

Why Lewes District Council is looking at moving to Alternate Weekly Collections?

Central government has set all councils a target recycling rate - the amount of household waste recycled - of 55%. This will increase to 65% by 2035.

Lewes district residents are great at recycling and what they send for processing is generally low in contamination, quality material, meaning it is clean, dry and consists of the right items.

The recycling rate in Lewes district is currently around 41% and has been for several years.

However, because of the high targets set by the government, the council needs to increase the recycling rate in the district. With food waste collections becoming mandatory across the country from 2026, there will likely be an increased national focus on performance in this area, and this is where Lewes district does not perform so well.

• On average, about 38% of refuse collected in Lewes district is food waste which could have been composted.
• A further 37% is comprised of other recyclable items.
• Just under a quarter of all homes currently use the council's free weekly food waste collections.
• Only about 25% of the average refuse bin is non-recyclable waste.

Alternate Weekly Collections are a proven way to encourage households to recycle more of their waste. Studies by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) show that moving to alternate weekly collections typically increases household recycling rates by 5-7%. This can be even more for councils that offer food waste collections.

Most councils in England have already moved to alternate weekly collections, including all other district and borough councils in East Sussex.

Of 295 councils in England, approximately:

• 239 collect recycling and rubbish fortnightly on alternating weeks.
• Local authorities moving to AWC is increasing all the time and will continue to do so in light of DEFRA's Simpler Recycling which will mandate a separate food waste collection.

The proposed change would mean an increase in the amount of waste recycled in the district and would reduce the amount of waste sent for incineration. It would also mean fewer collection vehicles on the roads.

Under the proposals, most properties would have their recycling and refuse collections the same day of the week (alternating each week). This would simplify collection calendars, making it easier for residents to know when to put their bins out.

More information on the proposal can be found at: Improving recycling in Lewes district - Lewes and Eastbourne Councils